Rachmaninoff Finds his Voice in Milwaukee Opera Theatre’s ‘Preludes’

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Photo by Mark Frohna

Milwaukee Opera Theatre "Preludes"

Natalie Ford as Natalya and Joe Picchetti as Rachmaninoff in Milwaukee Opera Theatre's "Preludes"

Milwaukee Opera Theatre stages a strange and tumultuous interlude for an artist with Preludes. Actor Joe Picchetti is magnetic as composer Sergei Rachmaninoff desperately trying to pull himself together for long enough to manifest his next piece. Picchetti has a tremendous amount of emotional turmoil to tumble through over the course of the story.

To his credit, Picchetti gives every twitch and tumble of the inner maelstrom a sense of place and purpose. Natalie Ford gracefully moves through the periphery of the story as the composer’s fiancé. She’s a music teacher who has some difficulty keeping the composer grounded in a healthy day-to-day reality. Jenny Wanasek plays with calm and patient wisdom in the role of the composer’s hypnotherapist. Joel Kopischke summons wit, whimsy and gravitas to the stage in a variety of characters in positions of authority including playwright Anton Chekhov. Gage Patterson brings a charismatic fraternal energy to the story in the role of opera singer Feodor Chaliapin.

There is a grand sense of uneasiness the playfully plays through the narrative as music saturates the air from synthesizers offstage and the onstage piano of Ruben Piirainen, who also plays the musical persona of the legendary composer. There’s something truly hypnotic in the mix as Picchetti sits on the edge of the piano bench lost on monologue as Piirainen plays piano. The drama plays out like a disjointed dream as the composer twists and turn trying to find his voice after a failure. It’s deliciously delirious disorientation when it works and not at all unpleasant when it doesn’t. Jim Padovano lights an intimate theater environment. Stage Director Jill Anna Ponasik has done a strikingly impressive job of maintaining a coherent narrative in the midst of a very, very disjointed, emotionally driven narrative. 

Milwaukee Opera Theatre’s production of Preludes continues through April 9 at the Woman’s Club of Wisconsin, 813 E. Kilbourn Ave. For tickets, visit milwaukeeoperatheatre.org.